Remember Me
by Red Witch
Summary: Ariel helps Shane Gooseman recover another lost piece of the puzzle and gets in deeper than she bargained for.


**The disclaimer saying that I don't own any Galaxy Ranger characters has been frozen. Just something that came out of my head. This is from Ariel's point of view. **

**Remember Me**

Oh Niko, what have you gotten yourself into?

There are days when I wish I had put my foot down and forbidden you to leave Xanadu.

This is one of them. If I had only known the danger you would get yourself into.

I had agreed to help Niko's boyfriend, a certain Shane Gooseman work through his past trauma with the Queen of the Crown and secretly help him with his own abilities which were just beginning to grow. I found it shameful that Goose and the other rangers had to hide their new strengths simply because of the small minds of politicians. But I agreed to help any way I could.

It was during one of my visits that I asked if he could contact the mysterious Cheyenne Gooseman. Oh Cheyenne was a Supertrooper designed and left for dead over a century ago, but she evolved and adapted into an aquatic life form with powers of her own. Her DNA had been kept in storage somewhere which was used to create Shane.

Apparently Goose now had a crystal which made it easier for him to contact his blood relative, since he wanted to keep her existence a secret. I have to admit I did share his fears considering what I had learned about human politics.

So the two of us decided to contact Cheyenne that way. Needless to say I was surprised at the strength of her psychic abilities. Especially since she was mostly self taught in them. There was also a sadness…a loneliness I had never experienced before. I could sense pain, loss and shame hidden deep beneath her soul.

I only know that she lost the man she loved to betrayal long ago and that the betrayal was someone close to her. I didn't want to pry but if her experiences were anything like Goose's…

Well we chatted and conversed for a bit. She was a very pleasant woman. Then she told me of her psychic connection to those individuals who shared her genetic makeup. She wasn't sure why but she could feel things to those who had her blood in them. She also told us she had felt great pain from an unknown relative and needed help in locating this lost soul.

Well what could I do? No member of the Circle of Thought could leave any sentient being in pain, at least not without careful investigation. So I told her I would help. I called Niko using my psychic powers and before long the four of us were connected together to find the source of pain.

And we focused on her dreams.

Images of intense cold and intense pain. And darkness. A deep dark plea for the torment to end. At first it was many voices but slowly but surely it dwindled to fewer voices. Then one voice.

_I'm worried, _Cheyenne told us. _The voices are getting fewer and weaker. And I don't know what to do. But I do know if we don't do something now it will be too late. _

"I've also been dreaming of something…" Shane finally admitted. "It's strange but for a while I've been dreaming of when I was a kid and I got very sick. This illness was an unknown virus and nearly wiped out a fourth of the Supertroopers. I was lucky to survive it. But those feelings…The pain I felt."

"How long have you been having these dreams?" Niko asked.

"Since I got out of my coma," Shane admitted. "But the really weird thing is that the end of my dream is **exactly** the same as the end of Cheyenne's vision."

"Hmmm…" I thought. "We need to focus on where the source of these visions are coming from."

We carefully focused and I was able to pinpoint the source of the dreams to the Planet Prairie. "So what do we do?" Shane asked. "We can't just go there and investigate without arousing suspicion."

"As much as I dislike telling falsehoods I believe I have a solution," I told them. "I will approach your Commander Walsh and tell him that I've been sensing some dark force that might be connected to the Megamind. And I would like your team of rangers to investigate."

"Might be connected to the Megamind?" Niko raised her eyebrow. "But isn't it imprisoned?"

"Yes but there is always a chance that this might be connected with the Megamind," I smiled. "Just as there is always a chance two white mice are trying to take over the universe. Small but not outside the realm of impossibility."

And that is what I did. Commander Walsh seemed to buy it. Such a gruff hard human but he seemed to have a heavy heart deep inside. We told Zachery and Doc the truth as soon as we were underway. They seemed more than willing to not only help but go along with the lie.

"Five will get you ten the Board of Leaders is involved in this somehow," Zach growled. And part of me agreed with that sentiment.

Finally we ended up in the middle of nowhere near a huge building. "This belongs to the Bovo Corporation," Niko was stunned. "But they were banned from operating on Prairie due to all the trouble they caused."

"What sort of trouble?" I asked.

"Well for starters they tried to wipe out an entire valley full of people because they wanted to control one of the most fertile valleys on the planet," Shane told me. "They were involved with several acts of espionage, sabotage, bribery, attempted murder, shoddy genetic manipulation of cattle…"

"And tried to blame it on the lycans, a species of wolf native to this planet," Niko added. "They would have wiped them out just to cover their own misdeeds."

"Eventually they got the government on Prairie so mad at them they permanently banned the Bovo Corporation from doing any sort of business on the planet," Zach growled. "Of course Bovo is owned by a lot of powerful people and they operate however they please on most planets."

"But this is a lucky break," Doc told us. "We can go in there and see what they're doing."

"Uh that might be a problem," Niko pointed at the dozens of spy drones and large drone machines."

"Spy drones and Class Five Sentry Mauler drones?" Shane realized. "Those things are outlawed in half the galaxy! Including the League of Planets! Oh this is gonna be fun!"

I won't bore you with the details of how we eventually got into the building. Needless to say it involved a lot of explosions.

When we finally got inside it was quite a different story. We expected to run into resistance but to our horror the people we found were all dead. Many were either shot or stabbed in the back.

"What is going on here?" Zach asked.

"These people were just killed," Shane frowned. "Their bodies are still warm."

"Over here," Niko pointed. The body of a bald fat man was lying face down on the floor. He had been stabbed to death. Nearby a fat white cat had been impaled with some kind of sword. The eyes of both cat and man were that of shock and horror. "Why am I not surprised **he** was here?"

"Who was he?" I asked.

"This is Beef," Doc frowned. "A charming individual who was the head of the Bovo corporation. Or at the very least a high ranking power player."

"Someone must have been unhappy with his track record then," Zach frowned.

"It looks like someone is killing off potential witnesses," Niko said. "Let's find out who."

"I agree," I also focused my powers to discover the recent past. All these men were taken down by one man. I could see the final confrontation with Beef.

"You are a fool…" A tall familiar looking Japanese man growled as he hefted his sword. "You've been given chance after chance and now the Galaxy Rangers are at your very doorstep!"

"But…But you can help me! You were sent to help me!" Beef protested.

"Wrong. I was sent to help my employers by cutting the **dead weight** around here!" The man sliced at Beef's chest.

I broke off the psychic link. At once we both knew who was responsible.

"What happened?" Shane asked putting his hands on Niko's shoulders. "Who did this?"

"It's the Enforcer," Niko whispered. "He did this. He's still here…"

"The same man who…?" I realized. The same man who helped destroy Niko's colony and killed her family.

"One of the few that are still alive," Niko nodded. "I'm sensing something else…"

"That psychic cry…It's somewhere in the lower levels," I frowned. "I suggest we all stay together. I don't think it would be wise to handle someone like this Enforcer one on one."

"Agreed," Zach nodded. "Let's go."

It wasn't long thanks to Niko and my psychic abilities we found the source of the psychic cry. It was a dark cold lab littered with even more bodies. "This is a slaughter," Niko shuddered. "It's like something out of a horror movie."

"The Enforcer is definitely trying to wipe out any ties to him or his employers," Zach growled.

"I remember this one," Shane frowned as he turned over another body. "His name is Doctor Heinrick Henderson He worked as an assistant to Dr. Nagata and Max Sawyer before he got kicked off for trying to run illegal experiments. But the Board wouldn't press charges against him. It was right after a serious illness broke out at Wolf Den."

"Illness?" I asked. "Is this the same illness you've been dreaming about?"

"Yeah," Shane looked at me. "Why do I have the feeling this is **not** a coincidence?"

"What is this place?" Niko asked. All around us were large rows of cryogenic tubes. There were boxes and crates marked ARK PROJECT all around us.

"A genetics research lab," Shane told her. "This is where they take genes from frozen corpses and use them in experiments. Mostly to create new life forms or…"

"Or?" Zach asked.

"Find means to destroy life forms," Shane's face was hard.

"This **is **a horror movie," I grunted.

"Cryogenic tubes but they're configured differently than regular ones," Doc scanned the data.

"I don't believe this!" Shane gasped as he looked at some of the tubes. "I…I know these people! They're Supertroopers! But they died… What are their bodies doing here?"

"They weren't all bodies," Doc said. "Some of them were alive when they got here."

"How…?" Shane was stunned. "How could they still be alive?"

"Most of them aren't," Doc frowned as he scanned the area. "But they were when they got here according to the files I just downloaded."

"But that's impossible! The illness…" Shane was looking around. "They said the illness killed them all."

"It's quite easy to fake a death," I told him. To my horror many of the subjects in the chambers were young adults or children.

"These cryotubes are…They're configured so that the subject would be partially awake but in a suspended state," Doc frowned. "There's controls inside that can take blood or other skin samples or…shoot out electrical currents."

"They were…experimenting on them," Shane's face was a look of horror. "Keeping them only partially conscious…But…"

"Oh Shane…" Niko was stunned.

"I'm sensing a life sign," Doc pointed. "Just one! That one right there!"

"Who…?" Shane looked inside one. He seemed to be stunned at the sight of a young blue haired twelve year old boy inside. "It can't be…Triton?"

"Triton?" Zach was puzzled. "As in your horse?"

"No," Doc seemed to realize something. "There was another Triton. He's still alive."

"Alive?" Shane realized something. "We got to get him **out** of there!" He furiously worked at the controls.

"Easy Gooseman we'll get him out," Doc said working at the controls.

"Who is he?" Niko asked.

"His name is Triton! He's my friend!" Shane told us. I was stunned at the condition of the half frozen boy, thin and clearly mistreated by experimentation.

Suddenly I felt something. So did Niko. "We're in danger…" She whispered.

"I can feel it as well…" I focused my powers and saw the Enforcer some distance outside the building pressing some kind of remote control. I saw a star ship nearby waiting for him. I knew what was going to happen.

"There's a bomb in the building!" I gasped.

"Ariel! We have to get out of here!" Niko gasped as Shane removed the boy's body from the chamber.

"Hang on!" I told them to hold onto me. It was a stress but I teleported them all to a safe distance outside just before the whole building blew up.

"There goes most of the evidence," Shane growled.

"Not all of it," Doc told us. "I still have a lot of images and data downloaded in my CDU. It's not much but it's some evidence of what went on here. Well that and all those ruined robots."

"Let's not forget we have a witness," Zach said. He looked at Doc. "You knew about him?"

"Gooseman told me about him a while ago," Doc shrugged.

We looked at Shane holding the frail boy's body in his arms. The boy started to gain consciousness. He started twitching violently. "Easy…It's all right…" Shane said gently.

"He's the one I sensed," I said. "He has some kind of psychic ability. I can feel it."

"It must have been triggered during the experiments," Niko frowned.

The boy twitched violently in Shane's arms. "What…Who are you…?" He whimpered weakly. "Stop…Don't hurt me…"

I could see the hurt in Shane's eyes when he realized that his dear friend didn't know who he was.

"Who are you?" The boy asked again.

"I'm Shane Gooseman. I'm…a friend. This is Niko, Doc and Zachery. And this is Ariel. They're also friends," Shane gently told the boy.

"Friends?" The boy was clearly confused on the concept.

"Friends are people who won't hurt you," Niko explained gently. "They protect you."

"Who…Who am I?" The boy was terrified. "I don't remember anything but the cold and the pain. Do I have a name?"

Suddenly an idea came into Shane's mind. I could see it in his eyes.

"Noah," He said quickly. "Your name is Noah."

Not hard to figure out the leap he made when choosing a name. ARK PROJECT indeed.

"Noah…Listen to me," Shane told the boy. "You've been hurt very badly. But we're going to take you someplace safe now. Someplace where the people who hurt you can't hurt you anymore. Understand?"

The newly christened Noah seemed confused but nodded. At first I wasn't sure what he was planning until Shane looked at me.

Oh no…

"Please…" He begged me. "Please take him away. Don't let them find him."

I was stunned. This man who had probably never begged for anything in his life before was begging me for help. I could see the fear and desperation in his eyes.

What could I do?

"All right," I sighed. "I suppose I can take the boy for a while."

"Thank you," Shane smiled sadly. He turned to Noah. "Noah listen to me. It's not safe here. You're not safe here. But Ariel will take you somewhere safe. Where you can be free. Understand?"

"I…I don't remember anything…" The boy was confused.

"It's all right," Shane smiled at him. "You don't have to."

Shane gave the boy an awkward sad hug. "The important thing is that you're going to be all right. You're going to be safe. I promise."

"But…" Zach began.

"Captain we can't turn him over to BETA," Shane looked at him. "You know what they'll do to him! Please!"

"All right," Zach sighed. "For now."

"I know you can teleport back to your home world," Shane gently placed the boy in my arms. He was so light and frail. "Please do it now. Before anyone knows…"

I suspected it was partly before Gooseman changed his mind but I agreed. "Now hold on tight, Noah," I said to him. "Close your eyes." He did so. I was tired but I had enough energy for another trip. S

Soon we were in my home on Xanadu. "Where…?" The boy was terrified at the sudden change of surroundings. Even though he was as weak and helpless as a kitten, I could feel him tense up. His eyes had the look of a haunted warrior. If he could he would have leapt from my arms and ran as fast as he could as far away from me.

"Easy my poor boy," I said gently. "You are in my home now. Come on let's get you cleaned up and some food in you."

I cared for the boy. Gently reassuring him that he would be safe. I cleaned and fed him and emitted some healing energy into his body. I knew I would have to take the boy to the healers in the morning.

And explain to the council why I brought another strange child to Xanadu. Twice in a few decades. That has to be some sort of record.

Noah was weak but he was mistrustful, frightened. He tried to protect himself from any potential attack. He wasn't sure how to handle kindness and tenderness. My heart broke. This was worse than when I found Niko. At least Niko wasn't brutalized, experimented on and abused.

"It's all right," I gently held the boy. "I won't let anyone harm you again. I promise."

I used my powers to gently lull the boy to sleep. A dreamless night of rest would do him more good than talking.

Speaking of talking I telepathically contacted Niko soon after Noah fell asleep. "He's resting now. I'll take him to the healers in the morning. So what's going on back on Earth?"

"It's tearing Shane up inside but he feels he made the right choice," Niko told me. "Doc showed Commander Walsh a copy of the images and data we scanned. We've got the originals in a safe place. We may have shut down that lab but…The Board of Leaders doesn't want us to press charges against Bovo despite the fact they broke over a dozen laws. Including illegal genetic experimentation."

"We're talking a cover up aren't we?" I sighed. Oh how some mortals could be so foolish, cruel and selfish.

"Commander Walsh is furious," Niko sighed. "Fortunately not with us. The Supertrooper Project was his command and he hates the fact that someone pulled the wool over his eyes. But the rest of the Board of Leaders aren't happy with us. Some of them were obviously in on it but we don't know who. Actually we have a good idea Wheiner knew **something** about it but we have no proof. The rest are just angry because we reopened a dark part in Earth's history they wanted to forget."

"Does Walsh know…?" I asked.

"No, Shane insisted that we **not** tell him there was a survivor," Niko sighed. "Or anything specific about your involvement in this. As far as anyone else is concerned, you didn't find anything either. You were just looking for the Megamind and we found this instead."

"In this case Gooseman is wise," I agreed. "This Board of Leaders would surely kill Noah to make sure their dark deeds never come to light. Even if he doesn't remember anything."

"And Shane thinks it's best that it remain that way," Niko told me. "At least for the time being. I can tell it's breaking his heart but…"

"But he wants his friend to have some chance for a life," I knew his reasoning. "And the best chance that boy has of being rehabilitated is if he doesn't remember being a Supertrooper or his training. Or at least what he can't consciously remember."

"What do you mean?"

"He knows something evil happened to him in his past," I told her. "His movements are defensive on reflex. He barely trusts me as it is. But right now he's afraid of remembering his past. He's going to need a lot of work before he's ready to learn the truth about what he is and can accept it."

"Can you really help him Ariel?" She asked me.

"I helped you didn't I?" I smiled. "Niko I know part of you is angry for me hiding your past from you…"

"You had no choice," She interrupted me. "I was too young. You were only trying to protect me. I know that now."

"But I should have told you before you went to Earth," I added. "I just…You were just so hopeful about your people Niko. I couldn't deny you that."

"I guess no one is perfect after all," She gave me a sad smile.

"Niko, be careful," I warned. "You are in far more danger than he is."

"You know me," She smiled.

"I do. That's why I'm worried," I let out a breath. "Niko that individual…That Enforcer."

"He's one of the surviving attackers who killed my colony," Niko told me. "I know."

"And he's working for your government…" Fear for my student gripped my stomach.

"He has no idea who I really am," Niko said to me. "I've made sure of that."

"But you know who he is and what he's done and what he could do…" I said the words. All I wanted to do right then and there was to teleport there, grab her and take her back to Xanadu. I wanted to keep her safe.

But I knew that was not going to happen. Niko was far too independent like me.

And someone else needed my help more.

So now I had a frightened, traumatized, amnesiac living weapon in my home.

And I was the one who had to take care of him and teach him to be a sentient being.

Not to mention explain to the entire Circle of Thought what he was doing here.

Niko what have you gotten **me** into?


End file.
